NFS 1.7

Secretary Choi swallowed the rest of his words. Perhaps from observing him up close for years, he could sense when his mood was bad even if it didn’t show on his face. Like right now. Ahn-jae was just standing crookedly looking down at his smartphone, but a sharp feeling like a taut thread pierced through Secretary Choi as if Ahn-jae might kill someone.

Lately, he often revealed his true nature like an unmasked demon while checking something on his smartphone like this. Ah, yes, his true nature. Just as Secretary Choi was muttering this realization internally, those black eyes looked straight at him. Secretary Choi stiffened as if caught in his private thoughts and opened his mouth like a confessing sinner.

“Is something wrong?”

Ahn-jae stared at him steadily while pulling his right shirt sleeve down under his jacket with his left hand. If someone who looked like a panda were staring and adjusting their clothes like that, it wouldn’t feel so anxious. But when Ahn-jae did it, even small gestures and casual glances made others tense. Moreover, he himself knew his physical advantages better than anyone. Fortunately, Secretary Choi had been working under him for three years. It was enough time to learn to read the wind.

“Well, it would be fortunate if nothing’s wrong.”

“What would be fortunate for Secretary Choi?”

“…Well…”

As Secretary Choi swallowed his embarrassment, Ahn-jae looked back down at his smartphone expressionlessly.

“It’s not something bad. That would hurt my pride.”

Though the latter part was muttered quietly, Secretary Choi momentarily doubted his ears because it was so unbelievable. Hurt his pride? What could it be? He wanted to peek at his smartphone out of curiosity. Actually, he had accidentally glimpsed the screen recently when Seo Ahn-jae was looking at it with the same intensity.

It was someone’s photo. A young man. Unable to contain his curiosity this time too, Secretary Choi quickly glanced at the smartphone screen. He quickly lowered his eyes after confirming it was a photo of a young man smiling at someone. Another young man… Wait? Isn’t this the same man the CEO was looking at before? As he wondered who it could be that needed such frequent checking, he heard Ahn-jae mutter.

“But it makes me angry.”

The low whisper contained clear anger.

***

“This is a month-long survey of snack preferences. I checked everything by type and age.”

The person somewhat shyly offering the printout was CEO Gu, who ran a fairly large dog park and pension near Seoul. Seung-ha couldn’t be entirely happy about the unrequested effort because CEO Gu, in his mid-thirties, was gay and had shown interest in Seung-ha before.

Of course, Seung-ha had drawn the line from the start, saying he wasn’t interested, but CEO Gu still blushed whenever he saw Seung-ha and tried to give him something extra. CEO Gu was tall and not bad-looking, making him a good candidate for dating.

But there was something Seung-ha didn’t like. He was too nice. This place was mainly a park for large dogs, and in his five years of business, CEO Gu had taken in three large dogs abandoned by customers.

‘At this rate, this place will become a shelter.’

While others would get angry, he just smiled awkwardly. He couldn’t hurt someone like this. So he couldn’t even date him casually. Very fortunately, CEO Gu had started dating this year, though that brought its own annoyances. You shouldn’t pay so much attention to me when you have a partner. Seung-ha glanced at CEO Gu’s boyfriend who worked at the cafe.

“Ah, Young-hwan helped with the survey too. Actually, he worked harder on it.”

“Thank you.”

Seung-ha finally bowed and examined the chart, estimating the amount used in testing.

“You used more than the samples I gave you before. I’ll fill in the empty quantities with the most popular snacks.”

“No, Team Leader Joo didn’t even ask me to do this…”

“I wanted to ask. Since you did it first, I can comfortably provide test snacks now.”

CEO Gu rolled his eyes awkwardly but soon smiled sheepishly.

“Ah, I didn’t mean to burden you…”

“It’s no burden. You know I don’t make empty promises.”

Yes, I know well. CEO Gu nodded vigorously and then smiled slightly as if remembering something.

“You know, when you flatly rejected my interest before, I closed the shop and cried that day. Then an acquaintance I only knew by face called and asked why I was crying, and we got close after talking for a while…”

CEO Gu pointed inside the cafe somewhat bashfully.

“That’s Young-hwan.”

Ah. Seung-ha opened his mouth in surprise before bursting into laughter.

“Haha, well, it worked out in the end…”

Seung-ha was laughing unusually loudly when he quickly turned his head at a strange feeling. He felt someone’s gaze. But in the quiet cafe with only a few tables occupied, no one was looking at him. Seung-ha scanned the few customers. He had felt this sensation several times recently.

Seung-ha’s eyes stopped on two young men talking. Both wore pulled-down caps and didn’t look like dog owners. There were no dogs lying at their feet, and with only two dogs playing in the park, the customers at another table looked like the owners. No, even if their dogs were somewhere out of sight, dog owners would naturally be watching their dogs carefully, but these men were just talking with their heads down.

“Team Leader Joo, what’s wrong?”

Nothing. Seung-ha turned away, dismissing it as probably nothing.

***

“Seo Ahn-jae, are you in a bad mood?”

Hyo-joon put down his glass in front of his business partner and school junior and asked, sitting across from him. Four years ago when Ahn-jae, whom he only knew by face, came to propose creating a private equity fund, Million wasn’t the hot company it is now. Hyo-joon was about to start an investment company backed by his wealthy “gold spoon” family background, but Ahn-jae wasn’t particularly appealing as a partner.

However, this renowned junior had a power to attract people that matched his looks. In fact, this industry revolved around connections to an almost ridiculous degree. Absurdly large amounts were often invested for surprisingly simple and emotional reasons. So Hyo-joon immediately recognized that this guy was a wizard who could draw in money from everyone he met, and he was exactly right.

Looking back now, while Seo Ahn-jae had used him to move money and pour necessary funds into Million, Hyo-joon had benefited too, so there was no harm done. For Hyo-joon, just gaining recognition from his family through this was more than enough benefit. So even if Ahn-jae was a bastard who kept using him, he was still precious for now. After all, he too had been drawn in by Seo Ahn-jae’s charm.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing much.”

“It’s not nothing. You were walking a tightrope today. You know how much those old geezers hate cockiness, right? You usually smooth-talk and smile well, why are you like this lately?”

“Like what? I smiled and said all the right things to those old-timers today too.”

The attitude wasn’t just in his tone. The downward gaze while leaning back in his chair was troublesome too. Hyo-joon lifted his chin with an exasperated sigh.

“The company doesn’t have any big problems these days, right? You wouldn’t be nervous about next year’s IPO. And it’s not like you have relationship problems.”

“Why not the last one?”

Romance? You? Hyo-joon burst out laughing and answered immediately.

“You love yourself the most.”

Ahn-jae stared at Hyo-joon and twisted his lips. It was an attractive smile no matter how many times one saw it. No matter how much someone sneered or tried to pick at his weaknesses, that ‘so what?’ smile always neutralized the attack.

“Romance doesn’t necessarily require love.”

“True, you don’t need love. But you need time. You don’t have time for dating, right? What, do you want to date?”

“Not at all.”

Ahn-jae answered firmly, then added indifferently.

“I don’t want to indulge them with such luxury.”

What are you saying? Hyo-joon looked at him with furrowed brows.

“So you’re saying there’s someone who catches your attention, though it’s not love and you don’t want to give them the luxury of dating?”

Yeah, Ahn-jae answered lightly, running his hand through his hair while picking up his smartphone.

“Someone I want to fuck.”

Though casually said, it was jaw-dropping news to Hyo-joon. This guy who had been indifferent to even the prettiest and most accomplished people presented to him – what was he saying now? Not that Seo Ahn-jae was ascetic by any means. If he were, he wouldn’t use that expensive escort service. He even said he deliberately exhausted himself with intense daily workouts when that wasn’t enough. But to say he wanted to fuck someone? He couldn’t help but be curious.

“How amazing are they? Besides, wouldn’t most people fall for you if you made a move?”

“Haven’t made a move yet.”

“Why?”

Ahn-jae ignored the question and just stared at his smartphone. But Hyo-joon could imagine the answer. He’s setting a trap. Ahn-jae’s specialty was slowly pushing people into his trap without them realizing they were being hunted. And eventually, no matter how many years it took, everyone fell into Ahn-jae’s hands.

But to set a trap, were they normal at least? Whatever the case, getting involved with Ahn-jae meant getting fucked was a foregone conclusion. But once Ahn-jae achieved his goal and was satisfied, he would discard them mercilessly afterward. Because he was a thoroughly calculating bastard who only loved himself. Suddenly, Hyo-joon felt a bit sorry for the target.

“Just call someone similar from the escort service and fuck them.”

Ahn-jae moved his finger across the smartphone screen, checking something while saying offhandedly.

“None of them measure up to the real thing. Come to think of it, it’s funny. Both real and fake are just cum dumpsters.”

That’s more than just a cum dumpster, Hyo-joon started to object but stopped. Doesn’t he realize he’s obsessing over that cum dumpster?

“You said you haven’t made a move yet, have you done it with the real one before?”

“A while ago.”

“What was it like?”

Ahn-jae carefully examined the report about Seung-ha sent by the agency first, and only after a long while, gave his answer.

“He trembled a lot.”

He looked like a small stray cat, soaked through by the early winter rain. Seung-ha shivered, his hair wet from the shower, as if his damp fur were shaking. On the bed, he was naked. The hotel room was moderately warm, but to him it was sub-zero. But he didn’t pull the duvet to cover himself. Shivering, he looked straight at Ahn-jae, who sat in the chair diagonally across the bed. Unlike Seung-ha’s nervousness and fear of their first sex, or even their first transaction, Ahn-jae seemed merely annoyed.

‘Make me want to do it.’

It was the only thing he’d said since he’d walked in here. Seung-ha’s mind raced as to what to do. He’d never seduced anyone before, never flirted, so even if he did it now, it would look like a ridiculous gag. What should he do? He glanced at him again, nervous that Ahn-jae would leave. Ahn-jae blurted out expressionlessly.

‘So what do you want me to do?’

There was no strange bitterness in Ahn-jae’s blunt response. It was a miracle to Seung-ha that he was even here. Miracle, yes, miraculously, he might want to do it. He wanted to arouse him somehow. Seung-ha raised his knees and slowly touched his penis with his hand. But he was too embarrassed to show it fully, and his legs twitched. A sneer came from Ahn-jae.

‘Fuck, now you’re acting all chaste.’

Seung-ha forced his legs apart, his face growing hotter. He thought he was watching his movements. But he was afraid he was mistaken. After a moment, he mustered up the courage to raise his eyes. He met with black eyes. A cold curse came straight from Ahn-jae’s mouth.

‘Lower your eyes, you bastard.’

Seung-ha quickly lowered his eyes in surprise, but Ahn-jae continued.

‘Cover your eyes completely, you’re unlucky to look at.’

The irritation and emphasis in the word ‘unlucky’ stung Seung-ha more sharply than the profanity. But all Seung-ha could do was keep his head down and hurriedly look around. I have to find it quickly. In his urgency, he caught sight of the straps of the shower robe he had removed. The cloth was narrow, but it was enough to cover his eyes. He tied the string with his nimble hands and began to masturbate, hoping to see Ahn-jae again. The blindfold was fortunately for Seung-ha.

It was unnerving not to be able to see him leave, but at the same time, the blocked view calmed his nerves. The more brazenly he left, the more greedy he became. Seung-ha imagined Ahn-jae watching him as he ran his hand slowly over his impossibly erect cock. Even if, in reality, he was looking at him like he was a dirty filthy thing.

‘Haa, haa…’

A quick, sticky moan started to come out of Seung-ha’s mouth. Ahn-jae continued to sit back in his chair, never taking his eyes off Seung-ha’s body, his hands, or his penis from the beginning. With Seung-ha’s eyes covered, Ahh-jae could only see half of his face, making his breathy lips look even redder and wetter. Seung-Ha’s hand sped up, and so did his breathing.

‘Ha, ha, ah, ah, ah…’

His chest began to heave as he was about to climax. Seeing him, Ahn-jae silently unbuckled his trousers and moistened his lips with his tongue.

‘Hmph, …hmph!’

Seung-ha shuddered and ejaculated, his waist curling round. After catching a few sticky spurts of cum on his hands, he managed to catch his breath, but he couldn’t linger in the afterglow of his ejaculation for long. Ahn-jae stood up from the chair. He strode over to the bed, his cock out, hard and large enough to touch his stomach. He commanded in a low voice.

‘Get on your stomach.’